Nurhachi's army was crowded in the Suzi River Valley. In fact, it was impossible to fully deploy its troops and thus unable to take advantage of its strength. Therefore, after capturing Gule Village, Nurhaci decisively sent his most valued son, Huang Taiji, to lead 5,000 cavalrymen up the Suzi River. , taking advantage of the fact that the Chinese army was still massing its troops, they attacked and occupied Ma'erdun Village ten miles away.

The defenders of Maldun Village, a small force of more than 200 people from the Fifth Division, resisted desperately after being attacked. In the end, they lit the gunpowder magazine and died together with more than a hundred Eight Banners soldiers. The fiery red fireworks signal sent out before the fall of Maldun Village was The cavalry posts directly under the old battalion of the First Division that were walking on the road to reinforce Mardun Village saw it, and immediately the Eight Banners cavalry with heavy armor and long spears rushed in front of them.

Most of the Chinese cavalrymen who were caught off guard were killed in the battle. Dozens of them escaped, and the news of the rapid advance of the Eight Banners soldiers was sent back to the Hetuala camp.

Before Yan Siqi could react, Zhang Pan and others arrived after breaking out of Gule Village.

Zhang Pan provided precise information: Nurhaci had indeed marched in person, and a large group of Eight Banners soldiers had moved up the Suzi River.

Yan Siqi and the staff officer of the First Gan Operations Department estimated that the Eight Banners Brigade would have to walk along the Suzi River anyway. There are dense forests and mountains on both sides of the river valley, making it impossible for a large force to march. If Nurhaci wanted to recapture the city of Hetuala and fight a decisive battle with the Chinese army, then the Eight Banners Brigade would It will definitely go eastward along the river valley.

They underestimated the marching speed of Huang Taiji's vanguard troops. Just when Zhang Pan fell asleep, Huang Taiji took his own guards and the Baya soldiers assigned to him by Nurhaci, a total of 3,000 elite troops, and marched overnight. On the morning of the first day of October 2011, Huang Taiji led his troops on a rapid march of 60 miles and raided Qiyun Mountain at dawn.

Behind this hill is the basin with a radius of more than ten miles around the city of Hetuala. This area is the only place suitable for large army battles among the mountains and dense forests.

The Suzi River flows westward through the mountain pass, with Qiyun Mountain on the north bank and Zaotu Mountain on the south bank, blocking the main route from west to east into the valley plain around Hetuala City.

Guarding this place is a militia battalion that is building a fort and repairing fortifications: Taiwan's First Battalion, which was formed by the pioneering group established in the name of Li Lihua, Princess of Jinghai. The battalion leader (militia battalion commander) is a distant cousin of Li Lihua's same clan. He is Li Dan's subordinate and one of the first veterans of the company's escort team.

Among the members of Taiwan's First Battalion, there were Han hunters who hunted for deer skins in the Shengfan Mountains of Taiwan, as well as Taiwanese aboriginals of the Pingpu ethnic group. They discovered Huang Taiji's surprise attack force with their keen senses developed from long-term hunting, and caught the guy in time. Open fire, their weapons range from the matchlocks used by the Ming army - bird guns to the first batch of improved matchlocks of the Chinese army, the first batch of flintlock guns, bows and arrows, sailor crossbows, etc., as well as a large number of grenades. After a morning In a fierce battle, Huang Taiji's surprise attack failed.

This alarmed Yan Siqi, but no one knew how many Eight Banners soldiers had arrived. Huang Taiji immediately disappeared under Qiyun Mountain after missing a single hit. Yan Siqi felt that this should be a test before Nurhachi's army arrived, and he began to attack Hetu The troops were mobilized in the west of Ala City to prepare to meet the enemy.

Huang Taiji moved very quickly, and immediately crossed the river and went south to attack Zaotu Mountain. Yan Siqi did not send any troops to guard this place. Only dozens of fifth division signal soldiers were stationed. Just as they had time to send out signal rockets, they were swarmed by the Eight Banners. Swallowed by soldiers.

It wasn't until noon that Yan Siqi figured out: it was not the main force of the Eight Banners that launched the surprise attack in the morning, but only a vanguard of the Eight Banners.

However, the Chinese army had already set up its formation at this time. Yan Siqi just blushed and cursed a few times, and then ordered the entire army to prepare for battle.

Staff officer Zheng Zhihu stepped forward and asked: "Master Manager, don't you need to send troops to recover Zaotu Mountain?"

Yan Siqi sneered: "Why do we need to recover? Nurhachi wants to control these key points, and then let his large troops enter the area around Hetuala from the valley between these two mountains. We can just wait here for them to come,"

Zheng Zhihu scratched his head in confusion and stepped back not knowing why.

…

In the morning of this day, more than 9,000 people from the Zhenglan Banner (including 21 pure Manchu Niulu), led by Mang Gurtai, the fifth son of the flag owner Nurhachi, took the lead in arriving at the foot of Qiyun Mountain. As a result, when they attacked the mountain, they found that the defenders on the mountain had fled. , the breastwork fortifications on the top of the mountain were full of broken guns and knives.

Huang Taiji's 5,000 Zhengbai Banner troops arrived at the foot of Qiyun Mountain and on the north bank of the Suzi River at noon (including 18 purely Manchurian Niulu, plus several Mongolian Niulu and Korean Niulu).

Subsequently, the main force of the Eight Banners drove to the south bank of the Suzi River one after another, only half a day behind the forward Huang Taiji troops. The main force of the Eight Banners, both combat soldiers and infantry, were equipped with war horses, and their marching speed was indeed very fast compared to the Chinese army.

The Xiangbai Banner has 5,600 people (including 15 pure Manchu Niulu), and the flag owner is Nurhaci’s eldest son, eldest grandson Dudu; the Zhenghong Banner has more than 10,000 people (including 25 pure Manchu Niulu), and the flag owner is Nurhaci’s second son Daishan; the Xianghong Banner has 10,000 people (26 pure Manchu Niulu), the flag owner is Daishan's eldest son Yue Tuo; most of the troops newly formed with the blue flag stayed in Jiefan City to fight against the Chinese Army's West Route Army, only 4 Niulu with 1,000 people arrived , the temporary flag owner is Amin’s brother Jirharang.

More than 18,000 people from the Zhenghuang Banner (45 Manchu Niulu) and 7,000 people from the Xianghuang Banner (20 Manchu Niulu) under the command of Nurhaci marched close to the south bank of the Suzi River, and soon deployed their troops along the Suzi River.

The Two Yellow Banners under the leadership of Nurhaci were led by the young 17-year-old Azig as deputy general. He also led 5,000 elite personal guards "Baya Lebing", of which 1,000 were assigned to the forward Huang Taiji to lead.

In addition, 10,000 cavalry from the Mongolian Chahar Allied Forces, led by Wu Jige, launched in the valley north of the Suzi River.

The main force of the Eight Banners, totaling more than 80,000 people, was deployed on both sides of the Suzi River. To the southeast of them, the right wing of the Chinese Army was close to the city of Hetuala, and the left wing faced the direction of Zaotu Mountain. There were 6 infantry regiments in the middle (four from the First Division). Regiment, two regiments of the Fifth Division) 12,000 people spread out across the board behind a two-mile-long earth and stone parapet, arranged in a four-row firing formation. On the left wing of the center line was the first regiment of the Fifth Division, which was arranged in a hollow square formation, and on the right wing were guards. The Ryukyu Regiment behind the walls of the old city of Hetuala consists of ten militia battalions totaling 5,000 people.

On both sides of the Chinese Army's centerline infantry formation, a regiment of the artillery brigade, the First Division, two artillery regiments directly under the Fifth Division, and some heavy firearms sentries directly under the Marine Corps were deployed. On the aspect of the Chinese Army, there were enough More than 200 large and small artillery pieces were deployed, especially a large number of pull-type bronze field cannons in the hollow square formation on the left wing. Ten thousand-jin heavy artillery pieces were deployed at the head of Hetuala, forming a cross-fire barrage in front of the central front. net.

Zhang Pan took his under-strength second regiment and 2,100 militia battalion supplementary troops to stand at attention outside the west gate of Hetuala City. There were more than 1,000 troops and marines in his army, 3,000 cavalry troops in the West Route Army, and 1,000 cavalry troops in the East Route Army. As a reserve team, Zhang Pan was temporarily appointed as the general manager of the reserve team for this battle fifty steps behind the first line parapet position.

The total strength of the Chinese army, including militia battalion soldiers, is only 3,400, less than half of the main force of the Eight Banners.

However, Nurhachi was still unsure about the decisive battle ahead of him.

At this moment, the Chinese army on the opposite side raised a large balloon on its own position. The lower end seemed to be burning with fire, slowly floating in the sky a hundred feet high. The Eight Banners soldiers who were nervously arranging their troops, from generals to soldiers, cooks, and slaves, all stopped. I was working on it, looking at this weird thing like a dream.

Nurhachi was setting up his own golden tent at the foot of Zaotu Mountain. He heard a noise outside the tent, and then silence. It felt very strange. The leader of his personal soldiers "Baya Lebing", Daishan's eldest son Yue Tuo, ignored the etiquette. , rushed into the tent in panic: "Grandpa Khan, here, there is a monster on the pirate army formation,"

Nurhaci glared at him angrily, and Yue Tuo shrank his head in silence, but couldn't help but point to the southeast.

Nurhaci strode out of the tent and suddenly saw a huge air bag slowly rising from the pirate army position opposite. He couldn't help but be stunned for a while, but soon understood and shouted loudly: "This is just a large Kongming Lantern." That's it, the Han people in Liaodong also play this thing during festivals... Don't you have to work? Go do it quickly."

Nurhaci's tall figure swayed at the entrance of the tent. The Eight Banners generals had woken up. After hearing the old Khan's reprimand, everyone quickly dispersed to work. Although the Eight Banners disciples were nervously preparing to meet the enemy, they often raised their heads. , take a few more glances at that weird big bag.

"This new type of Feiyun hot air balloon is made entirely of silk and lacquer. It is lighter than the old reconnaissance balloon, so it can hold two people."

A captain in the reconnaissance balloon unit of King Jinghai's old camp was a thin boy from Hainan. Although he tried his best to shrink his body, the strong Yan Siqi still felt that the balloon basket was too small. He held up the telescope and said angrily: "I Fortunately, I have lived on a boat since I was a child, so I won’t be too crowded here. Brother Zhao Tie, who is so tall, may not be able to squeeze in here. Didn’t the owner of the ship say that he can build a bigger airship?"

The captain of the reconnaissance balloon unit gave a wry smile and tried to move his body to one side, with his upper body almost sticking out of the gondola: "Manager Yan, I don't know about this. When we set off from Taiwan to the north, I heard that the king was using weapons The research department builds a new type of musket,"

Yan Siqi held up the telescope and looked northwest and due west for a while, then glanced around, frowned and murmured: "The Eight Banners soldiers are making a detour to the south, trying to make a detour to the south of Hetuala Camp. Go, why, Chief Nu, who is famous for his decisiveness and speed in combat, has not launched an attack yet?"

"Our cavalry reconnaissance post fought with the Tatar soldiers in Suzi Henan," Captain Danmin exclaimed. The sailors who have been looking at the distance on sailboats on the sea all year round have a keen eye that can be compared with ordinary telescopes. .

Yan Siqi turned his telescope to the direction pointed by Captain Danmin, and sure enough he saw a group of Chinese cavalry rushing out of the dense forest of Suzi River, followed by a group of cavalry with red flags.

Soon, the Chinese cavalry approached their position, and the cavalry with the red flag turned around and slowly retreated.

At this time, on the South Road, the Xiangbai Banner troops who were tentatively advancing were intercepted by the Chinese Army's cavalry troops. As soon as the two sides engaged in battle, the Xiangbai Banner troops began to retreat, and the Chinese Army did not pursue them. After firing on the spot for a while, they slowly retreated. The ground retreats.

More than 100,000 people from the Eight Banners Army and the Chinese Army faced each other from east to west within an area of ​​tens of square miles. Both sides were surprisingly cautious, and no one wanted to launch an attack first.

In the evening, the generals of the Eight Banners Army, who had basically completed their formation, gathered in the Khan King's tent and anxiously asked Nurhachi to fight.
Chapter completed!